Harrisburg

Harrisburg is the capital city of the US state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Dauphin County. It was originally known to the Native Americans as "Paxtang", and the town was surveyed in 1785 and named for the English trader John Harris, Sr.. It was incorporated in 1791 and named the state capitol in October 1812. It developed from being a scenic pastoral town into a center of the railroad, steel, and iron industries after 1850. During the American Civil War, it was a significant Union training center and rail center. Between 1920 and 1970, the city experienced industrial decline, and the population shifted from the city to the suburbs. In 2017, Harrisburg had a population of 49,192 people, with 560,849 people living in its metro area.